Sun of Shadows/Prologue
This is the prologue of the third book in the Elysian Elements series, Sun of Shadows. Prologue They were flying. Not on the back of a bird, not with their own wings. The sea rushed by below them without them paying much attention. The starry sky overhead was nothing but a blur of lights. They were far too fast to see anything more. Under the right circumstances, Shadows could travel distances in hours that others needed days for, weeks even. And that was exactly what they did. "I could get used to that," Khya heard a voice in her head. Her companion spoke to her, even without needing a body. His voice was part of the night, like the Shadows themselves. "I know." In fact, she was relieved that he felt that way. All her previous attempts to change Elmen had failed miserably: not a single one of them had wanted to fight for their cause. But Tecc, she had felt immediately, was different. He wanted to help her. Her - and Umbrath, the Keeper of Shadows, who had been wrongly imprisoned many years ago and was about to return. "How much farther?" Tecc sounded more curious than annoyed. The hour-long journey without physical form didn't bother him, he hadn't complained once. "Do you see the spot over there?" "I... I don't see anything." Had she had a body, she would have smiled. "Exactly." The stars might be passing by, but at some distance the sky suddenly appeared to end. An ever-widening hole gaped in the night, a pitch-black spot that no spark of light was able to reach. "And we're going there?" "You got it." Closer and closer they came to the place that loomed dark in front of them. But Khya wasn't afraid, on the contrary. This darkness was her home. "Trust me." The black hole completely swallowed them up. It was impossible to know where up was, or down, or left, or right; lightless nothingness surrounded her. Yet Khya felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. "Change." She didn't have to explain to Tecc how he could return to his body, they had practiced it several times before they'd left. She, too, took on her physical form, imagining how it became reality. Arms, legs, clawed fingers and toes - and huge leathery wings that kept her safely in the air. She tested all her limbs one by one. No, nothing had gone wrong. Of course not. A voice beside her. Clearly audible, not in her head. "I... can see you!" She followed the sound, and yes, she saw him too: a boy her age, still a bit clumsy in the beating of his wings. Small pointed horns on his head, just like her own, and dark lines on the pitch-black skin. His were dark green, Khya knew, but for the moment they looked gray. "We can see in absolute darkness too," she told him. "Just no colors." "I see." Curious, he looked around and spotted a land mass that extended not too far below them. There was something impressive about how the waves of the ocean hit the cliffs in colorless gray; even without the darkness, ships would avoid this place. "Come on, I'll get you something to wear," Khya said, heading straight for the rocky shore. That they couldn't take their clothes with them was the only downside to traveling as part of the night. That's why there were tons of hideouts all over the island that everyone was allowed to take from. "After all, you should look good when I introduce you to Zaqar." Tecc just nodded silently and followed her. A few minutes later, they were heading exactly there: To Zaqar, the speaker of Umbrath. He lived near the coast on the other side of the island, where he was closest to the underwater ditch to where Lumeon had once banished the Keeper of Shadows. There he could hear Umbrath's words most clearly and announce them to the Shadows. And the opposite was true as well. Whenever a Shadow changed someone, they had to bring that person to Zaqar to tell Umbrath about their progress. Khya grimaced. It had been a long time since she had someone to present. So much had gone wrong. But not this time. They landed on the coarse-grained sandy soil that covered the coast. As usual, Zaqar was already there, staring at the waves, as motionless as the cliffs on the eastern side of the island and almost as massive in his built. He was huge, much taller than Khya herself, and the lines on his body were bright, not dark. Almost white, even. That made him stand out particularly brightly against the darkness that surrounded them all. Should she speak to him? Zaqar was one of Elysia's most powerful Shadows, and definitely the one with the highest rank. It was her job to report to him, of course, but what if he was talking to Umbrath right now? She couldn't possibly disturb such a conversation. Tecc expected her to do something, but she had to wait until - "Come closer." Zaqar's heavy voice cut through the silence without him moving an inch. The man was still staring at the sea, as motionless as before. Khya could feel Tecc's confusion: Zaqar sounded friendly, much nicer than his appearance suggested. And he wasn't messing with them, she knew that after years of experience. Glad not to have disturbed him after all, she stepped forward. "Greetings, Zaqar." The only Shadow nobody addressed the typical informal way. He was too important for that. A barely noticeable nod. "Khya, is it? It seems to me you succeeded." "That's right." Khya's gaze shot to Tecc, who had assumed a confident position next to her without seeming disrespectful. What was he doing? Zaqar turned at the sound of the new voice. Huge like only the members of the Ice Tribe, he loomed over them and looked at Tecc, who bravely withstood the scrutinizing look. "Introduce yourself, new one." "My name is Sip," the boy replied, but quickly realized that he had made a mistake. His composed demeanor was gone immediately. "My name was Sip, I wanted to say, of course. When I was still a Forest Elm, a few days a- no, yesterday, as fast as we traveled here." "And what is your name now?" If Zaqar was bothered, he hid it well. Her friend took a deep breath to collect himself. "Tecciztecatl," he said. "A moon god of my ancestors. I hope that's okay." "A little hard to pronounce, but I have heard worse," Zaqar nodded. "That's not what I meant." "Oh?" Tecc looked at the ground. "Well, I mean, it could be that moon gods aren't allowed because they have nothing to do with the dark." He gestured around their surrounding blackness. But Zaqar slowly shook his comparatively tiny head on his stocky body. "Lumeon's Elmen would never choose the moon as their namesake when the sun is open to them. It provides light in the dark, that much is true - but the moon is ours. I, too, named myself after the messenger of a moon god." "Speaking of Lumeon," Khya put in, "Did Umbrath talk to you?" The day of his release drew nearer, they all knew that. Did Umbrath have new plans for them? Zaqar's eyes were hard to read. Joyful excitement lay in it, but also something like fear. "He has." "And?" He looked her in the eye. "You were gone a long time, Khya." She had to swallow. Yes, months had passed since she successfully recruited someone. Had Umbrath noticed? Had he decided to punish her? Ordered Zaqar to kill her? "I was successful this time," she said. Now an honest smile appeared on Zaqar's face. No, he certainly wasn't going to kill her. "I am not talking about your changes." "You aren't?" Confused, she looked at him. What else would it be? "No. Trust me, Khya, you have done nothing wrong, not yet. On the contrary, you have done us a great service." That too was new to her. What had she done in the last few weeks that Umbrath could even find remotely useful? Not one of her plans had worked, except... "Is it Nergal?" Zaqar nodded. "The fact that he is only half a Shadow has made it possible to distract our little group of heroes with the Forest Tribe to begin with. Do you know where they are right now?" She had to say no to that. But at the same time, she realized that that was exactly what he meant with his words: After talking to Geb and the others back then, she had spent some nights finding the right Elm for the change. She had succeeded with Tecc, yes - but she didn't know what had happened to the group. Zaqar didn't seem to mind. "Nergal may only be half a Shadow, but that's enough for Umbrath to feel his presence. The Fire Elm is careless and impulsive, he talks to the Shadows inside his head without noticing it. Umbrath has already learned a lot about him and his friends." "Like what?", Tecc asked with wide eyes. The Shadows were as strange to him as they were fascinating, and thanks to Khya, he was also roughly familiar with the group. "Well, Nergal has his own interpretation of Lumeon's prophecy. According to him, the Hero of Light is not a single person, but a group. His group." Tecc looked as skeptical as Khya felt. "How is that supposed to work?", she asked. "His idea isn't stupid," Zaqar said. "It's hard to tell what the prophecy means. And especially the Ice Tribe knows that light can have more than one color." "So what should we do?" Tecc seemed eager to make himself useful. She had really made the right decision with him. "The rest of his group is sailing back to Xiro," Zaqar explained. "He has sent someone to bring them to the Ice Tribe so that the prophecy can be fulfilled there. I will send a flock in a few hours to take care of that as soon as the night is in a favorable position - you are welcome to join them." Khya was silent for a moment, thinking of all the possibilities presenting themselves. "We're supposed to stop the messenger - or the entire ship, if there's no other way." Zaqar grimaced as well. "Do what is necessary. No matter how hard it is. The Hero of Light must be prevented from harming Umbrath at all costs. We cannot afford carelessness." "Of course not." He was right, she didn't feel too well about all of this. Geb and his friends had saved her life only a few days ago, she couldn't betray them. But if Nergal was right, Umbrath's power and all of Elysia was at stake. Umbrath, to whom she had once sworn allegiance and to whom she owed so much. How could she pick a side? But she had to do it. She had to find a way. "We'll come with you," she said. Category:Chapters Category:EE3 Chapters